Small business owners in Ohio feeling more optimistic about the economy

Ohio small business owners are feeling increasingly confident about the economy and ready to take on new hires, according to a pair of new surveys.

One of those polls, conducted by U.S. Bank, gauged the financial health of 200 statewide businesses that make $10 million or less in annual revenue. Of these companies, 76 percent said they were in good, very good or excellent condition. That overwhelming positive response marks a significant increase from the 70 percent who claimed to be in good shape a year ago and the 64 percent who said so in 2011. Additionally, only a minority of local business owners — 23 percent — believe the economy is still in recession, a notable dip from 35 percent last year.

A separate survey performed by the EO trade group found positive gains in another measurement of economic activity: hiring. Of the 58 Columbus-area business owners polled in that study, 72 percent said they plan on adding more hires over the next six months and 75 percent said they anticipate their profits increasing over that same time frame.

“We see first hand the way companies behave and how much confidence they have in growing their companies […] We’re beginning to see the pinnacle of the heat for the war on talent,” Cookie McIntyre, CEO of the Columbus-based McIntyre Global Executive Search, tells Columbus Business First. Jason Wells, regional small business manager for U.S. Bank, adds that, “There’s a sense of momentum [growing] among small business owners here in Central Ohio.”

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